I'd drop my head in my hands and say let's see what they do next. I don't like racing games much so even if its the best one ever made its just not for me. I'd love to see retro do something new and not one of nintendos classic franchises.

Retro need to be utilized to plug gaps in Nintendo's line up of games and what is Nintendo's single biggest deficiency with games right now?

Western Audience oriented games. So Retro's focus should be on developing new Intellectual Property specifically tailored to Western Audiences given that they are the only major western studio affiliation with Nintendo 1st party wise.

I'll be annoyed if they are working on just something like DKCR2 ONLY or F-Zero only.

If Nintendo relegated Retro to developing a racing game, I wouldn't know what to make of it. That would be extremely stupid. Retro has so much potential to be more than they are. Nintendo just needs to let them off the leash.

Retro should be afforded the freedom of studios like Irrational and Naughty Dog, not stuck reviving dead Nintendo franchises.

I would be confused. I mean, I'm glad they made it and all, but it seems like a huge waste of talent and time for the studio to have spent so long on a racing game. Nintendo has like a million internal teams that could work on F-Zero. Hell, I'm sure Grezzo (the guys behind Zelda 3DS) could do that without much problem. People aren't going to rush to store to buy WiiU because of a Retro made F-Zero. It would be more of a "...That's it?" than anything.

It's totally possible that they are handling Eternal Darkness 2. It was confirmed by former employees of SK that they were working on a demo of ED2 as late as last year. Dyack and Silicon Knights are essentially dead now so any work on the project would've gone to to the trash. Nintendo wants Retro to provide games that appeal to western audiences and seeing as how Nintendo owns the IP and the buzz surrounding it, it would seem like a great opportunity for Retro to bring another franchise back from the dead. Lastly, though many have looked at the recent artists that were hired and thought that Retro was reviving Raven Blade, that ip is long gone and I can't believe that Nintendo or the completely refaced Retro, having significant turnover since the early 2000s, would be that deeply invested in the game. The artistic talents of the new hires points to a style that would be consistent with Eternal Darkenss esp some of the models by Gray Ginther (he was with Vigil working on Darksiders btw). If Nintendo invested any amount of time in Eternal Darkness and had to severe ties with Dyack, it's possible that they didn't want have the project completely canned. One thing Nintendo never does, is waste efforts (hell, look at the gamepad which is about 20 years of shelved ideas that finally came together).

Retro need to be utilized to plug gaps in Nintendo's line up of games and what is Nintendo's single biggest deficiency with games right now?

Western Audience oriented games. So Retro's focus should be on developing new Intellectual Property specifically tailored to Western Audiences given that they are the only major western studio affiliation with Nintendo 1st party wise.

I'll be annoyed if they are working on just something like DKCR2 ONLY or F-Zero only.

Click to expand...

I think me and you usually seem to be the only few to support more development outside of Japan. I always mention how Sony has development spread out evenly across America, Japan, and Europe. Overall it is important to keep your development diverse by including games that can come from all walks of life or perhaps culture. Nintendo's core games will always be their most profitable even if they were to showcase more mature games. In a way I can suspect that Nintendo wants to keep things level headed in order to avoid losing their core audiences. So it is positive to see Bayonetta coming, and perhaps another Metroid Prime would be a great addition.

If Nintendo relegated Retro to developing a racing game, I wouldn't know what to make of it. That would be extremely stupid. Retro has so much potential to be more than they are. Nintendo just needs to let them off the leash.

Retro should be afforded the freedom of studios like Irrational and Naughty Dog, not stuck reviving dead Nintendo franchises.

Click to expand...

Retro Studio games developed since early 2000's (excluding portable handheld games and compilations):

Basically, Naughty Dog (in the same amount of time) have developed twice as many home console games (excluding portable handheld and compilation games) as Retro Studios have (excluding portable handheld and compilation games) in the same time period. In addition to any Nintendo imposed restrictions in terms of the types of projects Retro Studios can work on, there also surely has to be a staffing and/or funding issue with Retro Studios at the moment if speculation reported back in June 2012 as to staffing issues at Retro Studios is to be believed http://emilyrogersblog.wordpress.co...-studios-rocky-development-for-wii-u-project/ .

This is where I think that Rare were such a big loss for Nintendo. Back in their prime, they were the studio (through a close 2nd party relationship with Nintendo, Nintendo never actually owned Rare outright 100% but had a 49% stake) that was plugging in the gaps for Nintendo in terms of new IPs and certain genres of games.

The near 10 year period where Rare were an exclusive 2nd party developer for Nintendo, they developed a number of new ips and plugged in gaps for a number of genre's usually lacking on Nintendo home consoles these days. For first person shooters, you had Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark, and there was Nintendo's exclusive FPS franchise right there in Perfect Dark. Perfect Dark Zero could have been a Nintendo exclusive, Nintendo's equivalent of Halo that would have taken care of the FPS gap. Then there was Jet Force Gemini (a third person shooter ip) and a type of game that is virtually non-existent on Nintendo home console these days but prevalent on other platforms (e.g. Uncharted for Sony and Gears of War for Microsoft) not to mention Killer Instinct (Fighting), Battletoads (Beat 'em up, although you don't tend to see many beat 'em ups these days), alternative platforming to Mario (Banjo Kazooie & Conker) and even miscellaneous action games like Blast Corps (Project H.A.M.M.E.R. looked to be the Blast Corps of the modern era but was ultimately scrapped by Nintendo for whatever reason).

Since Rare was acquired by Microsoft with Nintendo having sold off their 49% stake in the company from 2002 onwards, Nintendo's game development limitations in the lack of notable new ips outside of expanded audience oriented Wii Series and having a number of key genres not having games for them at all, have been exposed. Going forward, I think Nintendo need to invest more money into Retro Studios so they can be expanded and be able to produce the sort of output at least Naughty Dog are producing now minus any presently imposed genre/game restrictions so they have the creative freedom needed to realize their full potential as a 1st party Western developer for Nintendo.

If Nintendo relegated Retro to developing a racing game, I wouldn't know what to make of it. That would be extremely stupid. Retro has so much potential to be more than they are. Nintendo just needs to let them off the leash.

Retro should be afforded the freedom of studios like Irrational and Naughty Dog, not stuck reviving dead Nintendo franchises.

Click to expand...

Retro Studio games developed since early 2000's (excluding portable handheld games and compilations):

Basically, Naughty Dog (in the same amount of time) have developed twice as many home console games (excluding portable handheld and compilation games) as Retro Studios have (excluding portable handheld and compilation games) in the same time period. In addition to any Nintendo imposed restrictions in terms of the types of projects Retro Studios can work on, there also surely has to be a staffing and/or funding issue with Retro Studios at the moment if speculation reported back in June 2012 as to staffing issues at Retro Studios is to be believed http://emilyrogersblog.wordpress.co...-studios-rocky-development-for-wii-u-project/ .

This is where I think that Rare were such a big loss for Nintendo. Back in their prime, they were the studio (through a close 2nd party relationship with Nintendo, Nintendo never actually owned Rare outright 100% but had a 49% stake) that was plugging in the gaps for Nintendo in terms of new IPs and certain genres of games.

The near 10 year period where Rare were an exclusive 2nd party developer for Nintendo, they developed a number of new ips and plugged in gaps for a number of genre's usually lacking on Nintendo home consoles these days. For first person shooters, you had Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark, and there was Nintendo's exclusive FPS franchise there in Perfect Dark. Perfect Dark Zero could have been a Nintendo exclusive, Nintendo's equivalent of Halo that would have taken care of the FPS gap. Then there was Jet Force Gemini (a third person shooter ip) and a type of gap that is virtually non-existent on Nintendo home console these days but prevalent on other platforms (e.g. Uncharted for Sony and Gears of War for Microsoft) not to mention Killer Instinct (Fighting), Battletoads (Beat 'em up, although you don't tend to see many beat 'em ups these days), alternative platforming to Mario (Banjo Kazooie & Conker) and even miscellaneous action games like Blast Corps (Project H.A.M.M.E.R. looked to be the Blast Corps of the modern era but was ultimately scrapped by Nintendo for whatever reason).

Since Rare was acquired by Microsoft with Nintendo having sold off their 49% stake in the company from 2002 onwards, Nintendo's game development limitations in having a number of key genres not having games for them at all, have been exposed. Going forward, I think Nintendo need to invest more money into Retro Studios so they can be expanded and be able to produce the sort of output at least Naughty Dog are producing now minus any presently imposed genre/game restrictions so they have the creative freedom needed to realize their full potential as a 1st party Western developer for Nintendo.

Click to expand...

I would imagine that if Sony were to be managing Retro properly then we would expect the same amount of content coming out from Retro. It would be possible to think that Retro has started different projects that have been cancelled over time by Nintendo.

Retro need to be utilized to plug gaps in Nintendo's line up of games and what is Nintendo's single biggest deficiency with games right now?

Western Audience oriented games. So Retro's focus should be on developing new Intellectual Property specifically tailored to Western Audiences given that they are the only major western studio affiliation with Nintendo 1st party wise.

I'll be annoyed if they are working on just something like DKCR2 ONLY or F-Zero only.

Click to expand...

I think me and you usually seem to be the only few to support more development outside of Japan. I always mention how Sony has development spread out evenly across America, Japan, and Europe. Overall it is important to keep your development diverse by including games that can come from all walks of life or perhaps culture. Nintendo's core games will always be their most profitable even if they were to showcase more mature games. In a way I can suspect that Nintendo wants to keep things level headed in order to avoid losing their core audiences. So it is positive to see Bayonetta coming, and perhaps another Metroid Prime would be a great addition.

Click to expand...

Yes, I think Nintendo not making Rareware a wholly owned subsidiary in the 90s when they first purchased that 49% stake was a major mistake. Sure people can say Rare are only a shadow of what they used to be, but one needs to factor in the impact that the major re-structure of the company had as a result of Microsofts acquisition. When one acquires a major corporation, a re-structure usually occurs to reduce costs, and through new business practices and new management, it was always inevitable that talent was going to be lost.

All this could have largely avoided had Nintendo purchased Rare 100% outright back in the day; a lot of the staff/talent would have stayed. If Nintendo had both Rare along with Retro Studios like they have now, just imagine the sort of games these western studios could have developed in collaboration. But alas, Nintendo didn't seize the opportunity when it was there for the taking and now this gaping hole exists in terms of tailoring to Western audiences that is continually hindering the ability for Nintendo to reach out and appeal to predominantly Sony/Microsoft gamers.

Retro need to be utilized to plug gaps in Nintendo's line up of games and what is Nintendo's single biggest deficiency with games right now?

Western Audience oriented games. So Retro's focus should be on developing new Intellectual Property specifically tailored to Western Audiences given that they are the only major western studio affiliation with Nintendo 1st party wise.

I'll be annoyed if they are working on just something like DKCR2 ONLY or F-Zero only.

Click to expand...

I think me and you usually seem to be the only few to support more development outside of Japan. I always mention how Sony has development spread out evenly across America, Japan, and Europe. Overall it is important to keep your development diverse by including games that can come from all walks of life or perhaps culture. Nintendo's core games will always be their most profitable even if they were to showcase more mature games. In a way I can suspect that Nintendo wants to keep things level headed in order to avoid losing their core audiences. So it is positive to see Bayonetta coming, and perhaps another Metroid Prime would be a great addition.

Click to expand...

Yes, I think Nintendo not making Rareware a wholly owned subsidiary in the 90s when they first purchased that 49% stake was a major mistake. Sure people can say Rare are only a shadow of what they used to be, but one needs to factor in the impact that the major re-structure of the company had as a result of Microsofts acquisition. When one acquires a major corporation, a re-structure usually occurs to reduce costs, and through new business practices and new management, it was always inevitable that talent was going to be lost.

All this could have largely avoided had Nintendo purchased Rare 100% outright back in the day; a lot of the staff/talent would have stayed. If Nintendo had both Rare along with Retro Studios like they have now, just imagine the sort of games these western studios could have developed in collaboration. But alas, Nintendo didn't seize the opportunity when it was there for the taking and now this gaping hole exists in terms of tailoring to Western audiences that is continually hindering the ability for Nintendo to reach out and appeal to predominantly Sony/Microsoft gamers.

Click to expand...

Unsure if Rare would have stay put with Nintendo but the prospect of the company now working for Microsoft may have most likely caused the company to seek better beginnings from an integral stand point.

If Nintendo relegated Retro to developing a racing game, I wouldn't know what to make of it. That would be extremely stupid. Retro has so much potential to be more than they are. Nintendo just needs to let them off the leash.

Retro should be afforded the freedom of studios like Irrational and Naughty Dog, not stuck reviving dead Nintendo franchises.

Click to expand...

Retro Studio games developed since early 2000's (excluding portable handheld games and compilations):

Basically, Naughty Dog (in the same amount of time) have developed twice as many home console games (excluding portable handheld and compilation games) as Retro Studios have (excluding portable handheld and compilation games) in the same time period. In addition to any Nintendo imposed restrictions in terms of the types of projects Retro Studios can work on, there also surely has to be a staffing and/or funding issue with Retro Studios at the moment if speculation reported back in June 2012 as to staffing issues at Retro Studios is to be believed http://emilyrogersblog.wordpress.co...-studios-rocky-development-for-wii-u-project/ .

This is where I think that Rare were such a big loss for Nintendo. Back in their prime, they were the studio (through a close 2nd party relationship with Nintendo, Nintendo never actually owned Rare outright 100% but had a 49% stake) that was plugging in the gaps for Nintendo in terms of new IPs and certain genres of games.

The near 10 year period where Rare were an exclusive 2nd party developer for Nintendo, they developed a number of new ips and plugged in gaps for a number of genre's usually lacking on Nintendo home consoles these days. For first person shooters, you had Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark, and there was Nintendo's exclusive FPS franchise right there in Perfect Dark. Perfect Dark Zero could have been a Nintendo exclusive, Nintendo's equivalent of Halo that would have taken care of the FPS gap. Then there was Jet Force Gemini (a third person shooter ip) and a type of game that is virtually non-existent on Nintendo home console these days but prevalent on other platforms (e.g. Uncharted for Sony and Gears of War for Microsoft) not to mention Killer Instinct (Fighting), Battletoads (Beat 'em up, although you don't tend to see many beat 'em ups these days), alternative platforming to Mario (Banjo Kazooie & Conker) and even miscellaneous action games like Blast Corps (Project H.A.M.M.E.R. looked to be the Blast Corps of the modern era but was ultimately scrapped by Nintendo for whatever reason).

Since Rare was acquired by Microsoft with Nintendo having sold off their 49% stake in the company from 2002 onwards, Nintendo's game development limitations in the lack of notable new ips outside of expanded audience oriented Wii Series and having a number of key genres not having games for them at all, have been exposed. Going forward, I think Nintendo need to invest more money into Retro Studios so they can be expanded and be able to produce the sort of output at least Naughty Dog are producing now minus any presently imposed genre/game restrictions so they have the creative freedom needed to realize their full potential as a 1st party Western developer for Nintendo.

Click to expand...

Yes. Ive heard rumors suggesting that Retro studios has been expanding and working on multiple projects at once ( a 3ds game, a wii u game, and the whole new engine thing for 3rd parties).In the early days of gamecube retro was working on multiple awesome looking projects until they were all scrapped so all time and energy could be invested into Metroid Prime. Considering that Metroid Prime is arguably one of the greatest games of all time, I don't think that was a bad thing. But I would like to see Retro start producing more high quality titles at greater rate. Hopefully this becomes the case.

If Nintendo relegated Retro to developing a racing game, I wouldn't know what to make of it. That would be extremely stupid. Retro has so much potential to be more than they are. Nintendo just needs to let them off the leash.

Retro should be afforded the freedom of studios like Irrational and Naughty Dog, not stuck reviving dead Nintendo franchises.

Click to expand...

Retro Studio games developed since early 2000's (excluding portable handheld games and compilations):

Basically, Naughty Dog (in the same amount of time) have developed twice as many home console games (excluding portable handheld and compilation games) as Retro Studios have (excluding portable handheld and compilation games) in the same time period. In addition to any Nintendo imposed restrictions in terms of the types of projects Retro Studios can work on, there also surely has to be a staffing and/or funding issue with Retro Studios at the moment if speculation reported back in June 2012 as to staffing issues at Retro Studios is to be believed http://emilyrogersblog.wordpress.co...-studios-rocky-development-for-wii-u-project/ .

This is where I think that Rare were such a big loss for Nintendo. Back in their prime, they were the studio (through a close 2nd party relationship with Nintendo, Nintendo never actually owned Rare outright 100% but had a 49% stake) that was plugging in the gaps for Nintendo in terms of new IPs and certain genres of games.

The near 10 year period where Rare were an exclusive 2nd party developer for Nintendo, they developed a number of new ips and plugged in gaps for a number of genre's usually lacking on Nintendo home consoles these days. For first person shooters, you had Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark, and there was Nintendo's exclusive FPS franchise right there in Perfect Dark. Perfect Dark Zero could have been a Nintendo exclusive, Nintendo's equivalent of Halo that would have taken care of the FPS gap. Then there was Jet Force Gemini (a third person shooter ip) and a type of game that is virtually non-existent on Nintendo home console these days but prevalent on other platforms (e.g. Uncharted for Sony and Gears of War for Microsoft) not to mention Killer Instinct (Fighting), Battletoads (Beat 'em up, although you don't tend to see many beat 'em ups these days), alternative platforming to Mario (Banjo Kazooie & Conker) and even miscellaneous action games like Blast Corps (Project H.A.M.M.E.R. looked to be the Blast Corps of the modern era but was ultimately scrapped by Nintendo for whatever reason).

Since Rare was acquired by Microsoft with Nintendo having sold off their 49% stake in the company from 2002 onwards, Nintendo's game development limitations in the lack of notable new ips outside of expanded audience oriented Wii Series and having a number of key genres not having games for them at all, have been exposed. Going forward, I think Nintendo need to invest more money into Retro Studios so they can be expanded and be able to produce the sort of output at least Naughty Dog are producing now minus any presently imposed genre/game restrictions so they have the creative freedom needed to realize their full potential as a 1st party Western developer for Nintendo.

Click to expand...

Yes. Ive heard rumors suggesting that Retro studios has been expanding and working on multiple projects at once ( a 3ds game, a wii u game, and the whole new engine thing for 3rd parties).In the early days of gamecube retro was working on multiple awesome looking projects until they were all scrapped so all time and energy could be invested into Metroid Prime. Considering that Metroid Prime is arguably one of the greatest games of all time, I don't think that was a bad thing. But I would like to see Retro start producing more high quality titles at greater rate. Hopefully this becomes the case.

Click to expand...

What worries me is the lengthy silence there has been from the company since Donkey Kong Country Returns in late 2010. It just adds fuel to the fire that there are internal issues at Retro Studios. Hopefully their Wii U game (or anything else they're working on) will be shown at E3 2013 and they can get back on track from their current output slump.

You can't compare two studios output. For Naughty dogs you have three games built on the same engine that is the same release schedule as Retro. Then you have generic side scrollers that a second team is making, big deal. Retro has helped on Mk7 and been doing some other stuff. If they aren't ready to release in 2013 then something is up

No idea. I'd just rather Retro work on something else. A new IP would be ideal, but Metroid is my favorite franchise, so I'd also love to see a new Prime game over sequels to another Nintendo franchise.

You could only do so much with a racing game. If you gather 100 of the most lauded developers into one team, and gave that team a $1 billion budget, it would ultimately still be a racing game, wherein all players do in the game is race. The genre in itself, by its very nature, cannot innovate. It can only refine and improve.

However, Retro could revamp the whole franchise and expand it into another genre, such as adventure or action, with racing still being the core mechanic. That is a possibility. But I would doubt F-Zero's formula in being a traditional racing game set in a futuristic world to ever change that much. So, that is why I wouldn't think much of any developer working on an F-Zero, regardless of pedigree.